What Hermione Saw
by RLynnT
Summary: Just after the escape from Godric's Hollow and Nagini, Hermione apparated in the Forest of Dean with Harry. Though we know what Harry saw, what did Hermione see?


Hermione fell to the ground completely out of breath. The moon was shining bright above them, but tree branches tried to block its rays. She had no idea why the Forest of Dean was the first thing to come into her mind when they were being attacked by a massive snake. Now wasn't the time to worry about that, though. They had just barely escaped with their lives.

She just realized there was something in her hand. She looked down and saw two wands. One was her own. The other was Harry's. Her heart dropped. Harry's wand had completely snapped. One end was dangling by the end of the phoenix feather core.

"Oh, no," she breathed. "Harry, I'm so sorry. Your wand… Harry?"

There was no response.

She turned around. Harry lay ten feet behind her on the ground. He wasn't moving.

"Harry?!"

She ran as fast as she could to him. His eyes were shut. His body was completely limp and lifeless. She started panting fearfully. She looked down and saw blood seeping through his sleeve. She hastily rolled it up and saw fresh blood pouring out of an open bite wound. The snake had bit him.

She started shaking in fear. She knew the snake was poisonous. After the ordeal from two years ago with Mr. Weasley, she didn't have to question the severity of the situation.

With an unsteady hand, she pointed her wand at his arm.

"Sc-scourgify!"

The blood and dirt surrounding the wound vanished, but the fresh blood still continued to seep out.

She quickly got out her little bag and pointed her wand at the opening.

"Accio dittany!" She was nearly screaming because she was so scared.

A small bottle popped out of the small opening and fell onto the ground. She grabbed it, opened the bottle and dabbed a few drops onto the bite. Slowly, the wound closed up. She took a closer look at the bite and saw there was no sign of an affecting poison or infection. There was no deadened skin or discoloration. This seemed curious. The snake was certainly poisonous.

"Harry?" she tried asking again, but Harry didn't stir.

It was then that she realized there was an odd ripple issuing from the center of Harry's coat. Like something was pounding under it. It was in the general location of where his heart was, but that was an unusually powerful pound. As if something else was moving under it.

She unzipped his coat and pulled down the collar of his shirt.

The locket was pounding like a strange heart on top of Harry's chest. It looked like it was pounding downward, into Harry's ribs. She reached forward and made to pull it off, but it wouldn't move. It was stuck to Harry's skin.

Panicking, she grabbed her wand and slashed it sideways. A sharp beam of light shot out like a slashing sword. Her aim was true. It cut right below the locket and it came loose. Hermione hurried to remove it from around Harry's neck before it tried to do anything else. She jammed it into her bag and closed it tight.

She took a few deep breaths and looked at Harry again. He still wasn't moving. There was now a burn mark where she had severed the locket away. She used some more dittany and it began to heal.

"Harry? Harry, can you hear me?"

No response.

"Harry. Wake up! Please."

He did not move.

She pressed two fingers against the side of his throat to check for a pulse. He was alive. Why wasn't he responding? She was getting scared, but she didn't know what else to do.

Well… she thought, sitting in the cold isn't going to help either of us. I should put up the tent quickly.

Before she started, she reminded herself of the protective enchantments. She ran around mumbling as fast as she could to get the shields up. Finally, when she finished, she rummaged through her bag until she found the tent. With a few flicks of her wand, it was standing in the center of the enchantments.

Harry still hadn't moved. Hermione looked closer at Harry's face. He was much paler than before. He was drenched in sweat. She also noticed he was breathing heavily. She placed the back of her hand on his forehead. He had a terrible fever.

He's ill! She told herself.

The tent was feet away and she knew she wasn't strong enough to lift Harry. She mumbled under her breath and waved her wand again.

Harry rose in midair, horizontal to the ground. It was unpleasant to see him hanging like a marionette with the strings around his body rather than on his arms and legs, but it was the only way to move him.

She brought him into the tent where she flicked her wand at a few candles standing on a table and the lit up. She then laid Harry down on one of the beds and threw many blankets over him. She was exhausted, but she couldn't stop.

Harry was now panting heavily. He was paler than a ghost. Beads of sweat fell as quickly as they formed. His eyes were tight shut and his head turned back and forth on the pillow as if he was having a nightmare. Hermione felt his forehead again and she was sure that his fever just got worse.

She didn't know what to do. She didn't have anything that could help him. She didn't even know why this was happening.

"Harry? Harry!"

He didn't wake.

Not knowing what more could be done, she pulled out a bowl and a small sponge. Pointing her wand at the bowl, she whispered "Aguamenti" and it filled with clear water. She dipped the sponge in the water, rung it out and started wiping the sweat from Harry's face.

She didn't notice at first, but she now noticed Harry was slightly moaning, almost as if in pain.

"Harry. Wake up," she begged.

Harry mouth opened slightly and he made a new noise. She froze in fear, the sponge just above his face. She was sure that Harry just made a harsh, scary laugh.

"H-Harry?"

But from what she saw, Harry still wasn't awake yet. Harry gritted his teeth in, what Hermione assumed was, pain. More moans escaped from Harry. Hermione just continued to help wipe his face to keep him cooler.

Then Harry spoke through gritted teeth.

"… stand aside… aside, girl."

Hermione just looked at him. She wasn't sure if he was talking to her or not. If he was, why would he say that? Harry kept moaning. He looked like he was trying to form more words, but nothing coherent could be made out.

The next words he spoke started out soft but ended in a great shout.

"-vada KEDAVRA!"

"Wha-? H-Harry?"

Hermione was sure, now, that he was not talking to her. But, she realized that Harry just said the incantation of the killing curse.

First, she thought that Harry's mind had completely cracked and he was just talking nonsense. But then, she remembered that Harry sometimes saw what You-Know-Who was seeing when he sleeps. Ron said he mumbled sometimes in his sleep when it happened.

But if this was true, what was Harry seeing? Who is the "girl" You-Know-Who was ordering aside? Who did he just kill? You-Know-Who was just at Godric's Hollow where he was about to…

Hermione's eyes widened. She understood. That was the second time You-Know-Who failed to kill the same boy in the same place. That must have affected him. He must be thinking of…

Hermione disregarded what she just thought and returned to taking care of Harry as best as she can, which wasn't doing much.

"Harry. Please! Wake up! Wake Up!"

He was still panting heavily, but he wasn't thrashing around as much.

"…no…" he moaned.

She continued to wipe his face, hoping he'd open his eyes.

"No," he moaned again.

"Harry."

His breathing was slowly returning to normal. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to just wake up, but he couldn't manage to do it.

"No," he moaned a third time.

"Harry, it's alright, you're alright!"

She was saying this to convince herself as well as Harry, if he could hear her. She had a feeling that he was finally returning to consciousness.

He kept moaning.

"No… I dropped it… I dropped it…"

"Harry, it's OK, wake up, wake up!"

Finally, to Hermione's relief, Harry opened his eyes.


End file.
